(Original article first appeared in Chinese on tech.sina.com.cn, 02/02/2015. Click here for original.)
Recently, at the Global General Assembly of New Energy Vehicles held in Tianjin, Beijing Science and Technology Commission Director of New Energy and Materials, Xu Xinchao, revealed that registration of new energy vehicles is being adjusted for the city of Beijing. A new alternative energy vehicle directory will be used to register such vehicles sold in Beijing, and the record will appear legally on owners' licenses.
Previously, in accordance with the "Beijing City New Energy Application Demonstration of Small Passenger Car Production Enterprises and Products Directory," a total of 7 brands of new energy vehicles could be sold directly in Beijing and be recorded to a license thereafter. Xu Xinchao made it clear that in accordance with the changes for vehicle registration requirements, which will mainly affect the filing system, more new energy vehicles will become available so long as they comply with government regulation. New energy cars from Dongfeng, Nissan, JAC and Chery will be rolled out alongside the new filing system.
This means that all domestic electric-powered vehicles will no longer face such strict regulation and can be sold in Beijing with a license - recorded in the new directory - and enjoy financial subsidies.
Relevant departments are also working on three plans to improve driving conditions for electric car owners. First, in order for users to quickly locate charging stations, authorities are cooperating with Baidu to geo-tag a map of all charging stations, which will soon come on-line; a second strategy is designing and publishing a printed map with all charging stations in Beijing to aid both consumers, and taxi drivers. Third, the week of February 2-6 will serve as a "Charging Week" to showcase electric cars. At first, authorities will select certain brands to showcase, and will then combine all brands into the demonstration.
According to Xu Xinchao, Beijing has established 1,245 charging stations, but says this is not enough and hopes to receive funding for more. In addition, the charging interfaces for street-cleaning trucks will also be modified to meet the needs of the community. There is also consideration of an integrated "street + charging station" model, which would transform the street into a continuous recharge station.